13,591
edits
Changes
no edit summary
Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists . 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03610470.2020.1795782.]</ref>. The mixed cultures during primary fermentation were made up of ''S. cerevisiae'' and lactic acid bacteria in a 4:1 to 6:1 ratio <ref name="Hubbe"></ref>, and was fermented between 16-20°C <ref>[https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/andreasdotorg-bucket/Groterjan-Doerfel.pdf Dörfel, A. Groterjan. 1947.]</ref>. The beer was fermented in open vessels until fully attenuated, and then carbonated with 12% krausen for a high, champagne-like carbonation. Top cropping was a regular practice. The beer would continue to develop in the bottle due to ''Brettanomyces'' and lactic acid bacteria <ref name="Hubbe"></ref>.
Using mixed fermentation in Berliner Weisse production resulted in several problems. Bottling conditioning times could be time intensive, mixed cultures were difficult to keep consistent, longer aged products could become more acidic than intended, and it required more effort. For these reasons, a man German scientist named Otto Francke patented a process known as the "Francke acidification process" in 1906 that more or less resembles kettle souring. Unboiled and unhopped wort was cooled to 45-47°C, and then inoculated with a culture of ''L. delbruekii'', and was held until the wort reached the desired pH. The wort was then heated to 80°C to kill the ''Lactobacillus'', cooled, and then ale yeast was pitched. ''Brettanomyces bruxellensis'' was added at bottling time. Although this process provided several advantages, it the Francke acidification process was not widely adopted by Berliner Weisse breweries <ref name="marshall">[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8CshC9nxYHdckhlbXFQN1hPbGc/view Kurt Marshall. CBC 2012 Presentation.]</ref><ref>[https://eurekabrewing.wordpress.com/2012/03/10/44-traditional-berliner-weisse/ Samuel Aeschlimann. Eureka Brewing Blog. "#44 Traditional Berliner Weisse". 03/10/2012. Retrieved 09/02/2017.]</ref><ref>[http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2020/09/kettle-souring.html Shut up about Barclay Perkins. "Kettle Souring". Ron Pattinson. 09/17/2020.]</ref>.
In 1956, W. Barrach patented a production method of Berliner Weisse that involved blending two different beers. 80% of the wort was pitched with a mixed culture that was maintained by the brewery. The other 20% of the wort was inoculated with ''L. brevis'' and incubated at 30°C. The two beers were blended to reach the desired acidity and krausened with fresh wort to create carbonation. After a short conditioning time, the bottles were sterile filtered and then bottled or casked <ref name="marshall" />.
Berliner Weisse declined after the world wars, and in the 80's and 90's, all but one Berliner Weisse brewery closed. The only surviving historical example, Kindl Weisse, could be argued to be a beer style that does not represent the majority of historical Berliner Weisse. It does not contain ''Brettanomyces'', and Kindl Weisse does not label itself as "Berliner Weisse". Kindl Weisse is brewed in a very deliberate way that requires it to be blended with sugar syrups at serving time, creating more of an "alco-pop" than a traditional Berliner Weisse <ref>Jace Marti. 2017 HomebrewCon presentation: "Brewing Berliner Weisse: Moving Beyond Kettle Souring". 2017. Retrieved 09/02/2017.</ref>.
Kettle souring
The methods mentioned above were just some of the methods that were used to brew Berliner Weisse. For examples of other methods, see the [[Berliner_Weissbier#External_History_Resources|External History Resources]] section below. For an example of brewing a historical Berliner Weisse at home (scale up for commercial sizes), see [http://wilder-wald.com/2017/12/08/historic-berliner-weisse-homebrew-recipe/ Benedikt Koch's "Historic Berliner Weisse – Homebrew Recipe"] and its [https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1911351298893075/ related MTF thread], as well as the MTF "The Podcast" [https://www.milkthefunk.live/podcast/2018/8/20/episode-006-the-history-and-resurrection-of-traditional-german-berliner-weisse-with-benedikt-koch-of-wilder-waldcom interview with Koch].
** [http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/berliner-weisse-in-uk.html "Berliner Weisse in the UK."]
** [http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/berliner-weissbier-in-1970s-part-one.html Berliner Weissebier in the 1970's."]
** [http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2020/09/kettle-souring.html "Kettle souring," a closer look at the Francke acidification process.]
** [http://masterbrewerspodcast.com/071-german-sour-beers-of-the-late-19th-century MBAA Podcast - German Sour Beers of the Late 19th Century with Ron Pattinson.]
* [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8CshC9nxYHdckhlbXFQN1hPbGc/view?usp=sharing Traditional German Berliner Weisse presentation by B.H. Meyer at 2012 CBC.]